About Me

I am a 42 year old woman that is about as happy and content as one person can be. My husband of 21 years and our 15 year old daughter live on five and a half acres out in the country. We moved from the city four years ago and never looked back. I homeschool our daughter. We also love our animals. Our daughter has a miniature horse and two rabbits. We also have a border collie, two cats (again), two pot belly pigs, four peafowl, three emus, 2 llamas and an undetermined number of chickens, lets just say ohhh about 200. I have many breeds, from layers to fancy chickens. I love poultry shows, I love fowl in general as I have come to find out through having more than just chickens. Chickens will always be my first love though. I do show some of my birds occasionally.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Another short video of Speckles. He is just so excited about food! LOL :) He wants to share, thats why he is going nuts, trying to show me, but I think I will let him eat it. ;)

You can't see this in public school! You can hear Shelby a couple of times in the background talking to him too. We were doing school at the time.

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Hmmmm welllll....I called Beth and....

there will be no Serama judge there. :(

I am so sad about this. Bantams seem to be the theme for most shows. There are big chickens brought to show, but a big part is taken up by so many breeds of bantams. It would have been so easy to transport the three boys as they are in a pen together, so they get along fine, which means I could have toted them in one carrier, no problem. They all look So GOOD right now too. I am disappointed in this news, but I will show something!

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So now the question is, who to show, and how many should I take on to show. I was rambling on and on in my head last night after I got the news about there being no Serama judge.

The Sultans are no problem. They are already very friendly and tame. I just need to groom them properly. First they will be dusted, just for any bugs they may have. Then two days after that...I will bathe each one and blow dry them. Then there is the task of keeping the feet clean. I think I will use Phoenix's old porch pen and modify it with side barriers and put shavings in it. SO...a pair of the Sultans.

I really want to show Johnny. He looks SO good right now. So so good. He and I will have to work on his manners though. He has gotten quite an attitude. I will dust him for any bugs, but he will not have to be washed after a few days. It is not necessary to wash darker birds as they dont show dirt like white birds. All I need to do it maybe wipe him down with a damp towel.

Recent pic of Johnny...

Now, the last two, Kuckoo and Coco. I got them last year at the same show. They were actually in the Junior show. I bought them from the young man after the show was over for twenty five dollars. At the time, they got good marks, and Kuckoo didnt even look that great.

NOW Kuckoo is just stunning. He has really filled out, but there again, lack of handling has caused him to be aggressive. Not as aggressive as Johnny, but still, enough to make you draw you hand back never knowing what he may do.

Here are some pictures of when I first got them. I want to take some NOW pictures so you can see the difference, but that may have to wait til I actually pull them out of their pen and put them in a more accessable holding pen so I can work with Kuckoo.

Wow, I am sitting here now looking at these year old pictures, and Coco, she still looks this good, but Kuckoo, WOW, he has really filled out since this picture. His saddle feathers are twice as long now, his tail feathers look much better and he has sickle feathers whereas here he had one, but it was broken. Oh yeah, I am showing them...just wait til you see them NOW. Compare and see...I will be pulling them out of their pen on Monday, so I will take some good pictures of them before I give them bathes and then some after their bath. Yeah....definitely showing them.

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Well that gives me five good birds to show, four of which I have to bath and blow dry. Two of which I have to work with them on handling and manners. Well at least I have some to show. Pete would have come too...but well, you know his story. He has no tail feathers to speak of thanks to the neighbors dog, so that is out.

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As the days go by I will get more and more chatty, more and more rambly and anxious. That is just me. Just warning you ahead of time. ;)

I will be sure to take video and pictures of the process I go through to get them ready. I took pictures of my three bantam cochins having a bath and all that last year. I still look back on them...sure do miss those three sweet girls.

The header for this entry is what Ian says I sound like about this time of year...everything is CHICKEN this and CHICKEN that...ramble on and on...thinking out loud, thinking, talking, obsessing...oh well. That is me.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Look at these pretty babies. They were my eggs, but not my babies. :) I sent hatching eggs to a nice man in Texas that was interested in hatching some Serama from my B Class birds. He got four cockerals and three pullets out of them! He was kind enough to send me this wonderful picture of them and I thought I would share it here on my journal. They are just beautiful aren't they? So cute!

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Speckles is holding his own. He tries to crow in the morning, but it sounds terrible because he has that congestion. As you can see in this video below, he keeps his spirits high. :)

We had quite a downpour last night along with some really high winds. Tip was of course nervous nelly all yesterday. I let her out at 8 last night, watching the radar closely, that was right before the rain started. Ian didnt know, and tried to let her out at 9, and even though she goes out the side in Derbys fenced area, she was at the far side pacing, trying to escape the storm as usual. She wouldnt come back when he called her so he had to go out into the rain, wind and dark to make her come back. I knew this would happen, thats why I watched the radar and got her out and back in before it started.

Now it is cold, in the 30s still, windy, but sunny.

The weekend shows great promise. Sun and lower 60s...now that sounds inviting.

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I will find out tonight what my options are for the poultry show. Either way, I will have some nice birds to show. The more I looked at Kuckoo and Coco day before yesterday...the more I decided I might show them instead of their son and daughter. When I got Kuckoo his tail looked ratty and I dont think he was fully filled out. Now, he is very handsome. The only drawback to having those two as breeders out in a pen is I dont handle them enough. Coco is no problem, but Kuckoo has become somewhat aggressive. I don't think its anything I can't handle though. I think I can settle him down.

So as of right now I have three Serama I want to show, Rod and one of the girls (Sultans), and the grown pair of Silver Laced Polish, Kuckoo and Coco.

You should see Johnny, my Sumatra. He is so filled out and perfect looking right now. He would be excellent for show, but he is VERY aggressive. The last time I handled him he bit me on the chin and was mad about being handled.

I know I can tame down any one of them, but it is work, and I dont have a lot of time before the show...so we will see how enthusiastic I get about all this. After talking to Beth tonight I will make my decisions.

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Shelby is ready to start school and we have to get done and be ready to go walking this afternoon. Cold or not, as long as its not icy, snowing, or raining, we go.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

I was asked...how often chickens poo, and what I do about the situation. Well, depends on the situation.

Its what you don't see in the picture that counts. ;)

The video of Speckles perching on that chair...for example. The thing you don't see is the paper towels I have laid across the seat cushion of the chair, to catch any little poos.

If Bonnie and Clyde are just coming in from their enclosure they are coming in to eat supper...so there won't be any poo, til they have eaten. About twenty minutes after they eat you can expect to start seeing poo. I hold them for about fifteen minutes. ;) Then they go into the carrier for the night.

There is an interesting fact I didnt know about that I just read in last months poultry magazine I subscribe to.

Branching off between the small and large intestine are two blind pouches, called the ceca (one is a cecum), having no known function. the ceca empty their contents two or three times a day, producing pasty droppings that often smell worse than regular droppings. This is a normal function. So....

other than those couple of messy poos, which hopefully I have avoided through the day...one usually being first poo of the morning...I will only have little round tiny balls to pick up with tissue and spray Lysol there in that spot. No mess when its regular poo.

If I am going to be holding anyone for any length of time, I have towels for that to lay over my shirt first.

Sometimes, someone steps in their messy poo. So...when they do come in, before they set foot in the house, they get their feet washed with an antibacterial soap. They are used to this and dont usually struggle.

The trick is to have them out in short intervals, and before suppertime. This reduces the chance of poo.

There is a site that makes chicken and duck diapers...I kid you not. I made Phoenix one. He was having none of it. He fell over sideways like he was dying! What a brat! He pulled and pulled at that pouch on his butt that catches poo balls...so...I gave in, and we manage to keep things sanitary without the chicken diaper.

Its not as easy as you see in the pictures and in the videos. Maintenance is a must. When Phoenix does his two or three messy poos while in that cage, WE KNOW IT IMMEDIATELY! I get toilet paper and get it out right away, and just flush it.

People are always commenting on my house and how it doesnt smell like I own a single animal. Hollie can attest to this, as she has been here when they came to pick up some chicks one time.

Its because I have a VERY sensitive nose. I can't stand yucky odors. That is one reason, quite frankly, I am glad we are done with cats now. The litter box was a real sore point with me.

So, there is more information than you ever wanted to know...about chicken poo. ;)

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Now, about being a poultry judge myself. No way, I couldnt do it. I am not serious enough to be a judge. I was telling Beth, (she is the head of the Chattahoochee Valley Poultry Association, her and her husband Jerry) some people are really hard core serious, and I am just not going to get like that. I am there to see birds, learn a little, and have a LOT of fun. If I dont win, thats okay. I dont mind. When something like this stops being fun, I am most likely going to lose interest, and I sure dont want that. She agreed that some people get too be too much...bugging the judges to death. So no, I will never qualify to be a judge. For one thing you have to get a lot of wins under your belt, and I will never have that. I do not get into the genetics and all that of birds...I just like what I see, so I get some of that breed.

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As for folks wanting to come back reincarnated as my birds, be careful what you wish for! This was the first thing that crossed my mind when Speckles was so tame. I told you, there is something about him, something almost human in a way...so is that what Speckles is? A human come back as one of my roos? I dont know, we may never know. I was raised Baptist, but hey, I have an open mind. ;)

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So far I have these names as suggestions on the unnamed roo.

Beau

Randy

Colonel

Henry

Leroy

So...lets have a vote to decide his name, it will be fun!

I am giving this poll til Friday morning...then if there is a tie...I will break the tie with my vote. Okay, everybody VOTE!!! Thankyou for voting! :)

Heyyy Dwain...I just wanted to say hey to you...I know you are a busy man these days working hard...just wanted you to know I miss talking to you! (((HUGS)))

Good Tuesday morning. I dont really know why, but I have been awake since about 3 a.m. Guess I was just having one of those sleepless nights I have every now and then. I got on up, took a shower, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher. Gave Speckles his medicine and held him for a little bit. We rocked in the rocker while watching the local morning news. After Ian left for work I thought I may be getting sleepy, but I wasn't so I started the coffee, and here I sit. I know it will catch up with me this afternoon when it is raining.

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So, I went to Tractor Supply you know, and ended up with some goodies on sale. The stuff they have there is so neat, but so expensive. You can bet they always end up marking things down like the toys and whatnots. Here are the two things I got on sale.

LOVED this plate...at Christmas time it was FOURTY DOLLARS!!! Marked 75 percent off, I got it for ten dollars, much more reasonable.

Had my eye on this towel and potholder set since Christmas too...it was FIFTEEN DOLLARS! Got it for five dollars.

Here is a close up of the plate in case you couldnt read what it said on the first picture.

If I manage not to break it over the years, it will be passed down to Shelby.

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Speckles is still sneezing and has congestion, but he is in good spirits. Yesterday I let him perch on the back of one of the dining room chairs (with a blanket on the back for grip) and look out the window. He seemed very pleased about this. So as I went about my work in the kitchen he was doing this...

Well its time for me to go see what everyone else is up to in Jland. :) Have a good day today...I sure am going to try to.

I had one more request for the What Do You Want To See...so I am fulfilling that in this entry.

I was asked to show where I keep my house chickens. Up until it got cold, Phoenix had a daypen out on the screened in porch. I put that away since I was given this large parrot cage. I had to make a modification to the bottom. I put some close knit wire down on the bottom of the cage because the spaces between bars on the bottom were too big and Phoenix would have stepped right through them. I put a small platform in there instead of a regular perch. He likes it a lot. I have to get two new wheels on the bottom, then he can be rolled onto the porch on warmer days to enjoy the outdoors.

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I built this enclosure below for Bonnie and Clyde. It is also on the screen porch. On warm days this enclosure is fine the way it is. On really cold days they stay inside in a pet carrier. If its not too cold I will turn on a heat lamp and they have most of the enclosure covered with a thick fleece material to keep out the cold and wind. They always sleep in the carrier at night though. I hope to get another cage like Phoenix has for them.

I mean why not? If people can keep big parrots in these cages in the house, why not little roosters and hens? :)

Monday, January 28, 2008

Buzzbomb has filled out nicely...he would be a prime candidate for show.

This little man would be awesome for show too, he has no name yet. (Any suggestions?)

This ones name I just had it pop into my head. This one is my Daddys favorite. He wants a nice picture of him for their wall of roosters. A couple of my men already hold a spot on their wall now. Hank and this one are next, when I can get some really great shots of them. So, with this one being Daddys favorite of the Serama, I will name him Jack. :) Seems perfect don't you think?

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I have had my eye on these three for a while now to show in this upcoming show in February. This is my time, this is the one thing I absolutely love to do, its 'my thing'.

The only problem is, when I called Beth this morning to enter my birds, she says that I may not be able to have them judged.

Judging Serama is different than regular birds, they are judged by their stance, their weight is a big factor, and their tail feathering. There are also other points, but these are some of the main things they look at.

Judges have to be certified to judge. Most are not certified to judge Serama because they are such a relatively unknown and unheard of breed. They are still rare. Leave it up to me to have the new up and coming breed that can't even be judged if they don't have a Serama judge.

Beth is going to find out if any of the judges they are using is qualified to judge Serama and I will call her back then to find out. I haven't entered any birds at all yet, because if I can't bring Serama ( I can bring them, but they wont be judged, so whats the point) then I will have to choose all new birds to bring.

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She asked me if I was planning on bringing any other birds besides the Serama. I said yes that I wanted to bring one of my Sultan roos.

She got very excited! She said "Ohhh you have Sultans???" I said yes, and I planned to breed them this Spring. She said she would love to see those, that no one has ever brought Sultans. I may, bring all four, if I can't bring the Serama. It is a lot of work to prepare white birds. With white birds you have to give them a bath, blow dry them, and manage to keep them clean til show day. They have feathered feet, so that is no small task. I did it last year with my three bantam cochin frizzles some of you may remember. With dark birds there is no need for a bath, just some mineral oil on their legs, feet, wattles and comb and they are ready to go.

These two here I am considering entering too, these are the two offspring from Kuckoo and Coco. They would be under cockeral and pullet though, not hen and rooster. They are under a year old. (Sorry, not a very good picture)

In the meantime, Rod will be going no matter what...since Beth was very enthusiastic about me bringing Sultans.

I have someone going with me this year, so I won't have to be all by myself. Ians dads wife Cristi wanted to go with me, and she shows her dogs, so even though she doesnt show chickens, she does show, and will appreciate all the hard work that everyone put into the show and all the people and birds there. I know she will have a great time. I love her, she is so nice.

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There is one thing I discovered. My sister Patti said she would be coming for a visit in February. Well, I just read her journal from over the weekend, and wouldn't you know it, her younger daughter will be holding her competition the weekend of the show. Thats alright though...because she will be doing her dance competition while I am showing. I imagine both our activities will end around the same time, so after the show we can meet up, no worries. We will work out the details...but Patti, if your reading this, don't expect my house to be spotless! LOL! If I am gone all day Saturday we may come home to some dust and dirt, but I know you wont mind. Cause you are my sister, and you love me, dirt and all. :)

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Before I start, I wanted to say how much fun it was yesterday while we were playing What Do You Want To See. :) Thankyou also to those new folks that posted comments...I always appreciate hearing from everyone. It seems like the more folks I visit and get to know on their journals, the longer their comments from me get, its a lot of fun I must admit.

Traci, where I lived, we had SO many trees on a little yard in a neighborhood. I loved the trees, hated when Fall came. Leaves in the gutters, leaves everywhere to rake. I had to rake periodically because if I waited for them ALL to fall, it would be next to impossible to push them along into a pile if they were to get wet...layer after layer of wet heavy leaves. It was just no fun.

With that said, you sound just like my Mama, lol, she wants to know when we are planting trees too. We will, when we can get the time and money, but they will be evergreen trees like Leyland Cypress. I really like those. If there are to be any leafy trees, they will be planted FAR away from the house. I dont ever want to rake leaves again. Not my idea of fun.

Ian wants to plant some fruit trees, which would be nice. He is wanting to also see about planting olive trees, and press our own olive oil.

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This morning I had to go get our mail from the post office. Ian didnt have time to put the mailbox up yesterday afternoon so he will have to do it today after work, or tomorrow. There is talk of him working tomorrow since he will have to be off all of next weekend so we can help Brian move into his new house. I am so happy for him that he has his very own house now. I will make sure to take the camera and take lots of pictures.

Anyway, I went up there to get the mail. Mrs. Robinson was there. I dont think she felt to well. She had a tissue over her nose while she talked. I don't think she felt much like being there. Guess it is good for her that Saturdays are short days at the post office. She is the wife of the man that came out to buy all those Silver Phoenix roos I had and then I ended up buyingBonnie and Clyde from him while he was here. He wheels and deals in animals all the time over in Collinsville at the Trade Day on Saturdays. I loved that place, I need to go back there soon.

I keep drifting off from my subject! LOL

So she gave me the mail that they had bundled up from Wednesday through Friday. I asked if I could get todays, or if it had already gone out could they save it and put it in with Mondays mail. I was expecting prescriptions and didnt want to miss them. She said they hadnt gone through todays mail to be sent out yet but she would hold it.

I went out to the truck to leave and as I got in two ladies came out the back door rolling bins of mail. They recognized me...isnt that something. They knew about the mailbox and said they had a package for me this morning. They just knew me, by looks, isnt that something. So she got the package out and handed it to me. I told them thankyou so much as I had been waiting for these prescriptions and needed them right away.

I know they probably have a total of 500 addresses to deliver to, and its like anything, you just get used to the places and people you go out to, but it was still pretty cool.

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Mrs. Moates stopped by on my way out and wanted some eggs. Her and her husband live at the end of Doc Moates Road not too far from here. The road was named after their family as you could probably see. She had a bag of ground corn for me, just a small bag, but still, it was nice. They were testing out their new corn grinder and Mr. Moates said to her why not take the chickens some. I was already in the truck headed out, but I will stop in at their house later and drop off the eggs for them.

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There is nothing like living out here...nothing. It cant compare to anything I have ever experienced. The people, the places, the whole area...I just feel so blessed to be a part of it out here. In some way or another, eventually everybody is connected out here. I love that.

Speckles has a cold and congestion. When one of my babies gets sick they go into a sick cage and get to come inside to be medicated and watched closely.

If you remember, he is the one that I said was tame and I had never handled him before,but I did raise him from an egg. He was in the pen with all my fancy special birds I raised this past Spring. He is way to big to breed, which is really too bad, he is such a beautiful bird.

I got him in night before last. Medicated his water and gave him a dropper of VetRX in his nose and some down his throat I got him settled inside, where it is nice and warm.

I can't explain it, this little rooster is different. There is something about him, in his eyes, his behavior, his mannerisms.

He has not been conditioned to come to love the companionship of humans like Phoenix, Bonnie and Clyde. Yet he has taken right to me.

Last night after we got back from grocery shopping I took Speckles out, like I had several times that day to give him some attention and hugs and talk to him. I took him into the living room and we sat down in the rocking chair. He was cradled in the crook of my arm as we rocked and he was very content. He would look up at me, tilt his head, eyeing me intently. He would give little quiet bock bock noises in his throat every now and then, talking back to me quietly. I asked him if he would like to get down on the floor and walk around. Of course he didnt answer me, I am not that crazy! ;)

I put him down on the floor in front of me. He turned around looked up at me and immediately I saw this was not what he wanted at all. Before I could reach down to get him he flew straight up and onto my head! OWCHIE! His nails were kinda sharp on my tender head! (I file and trim the house chickens toenails) I took him off my head and cradled him again, and once again he settled in and fell asleep after awhile.

He reminds me of how Phoenix was when I first got him. Phoenix didnt want to go a moment without me holding him or him being right there wherever I was. Since then he has learned that I just can't hold him all day and accepts his fate of being in an enclosure be it in the house or on the porch the better part of the day. He takes his hugs and love when I can give them and accepts that, most of the time.

I wish I could explain to you...how odd this little rooster is. All chickens, that I have ever had, naturally have had a fear of being picked up and held. They will get over that fear with handling, sometimes really quickly. It only takes me about three days and they are loving all the attention, usually. Speckles has been craving this attention from the get go. Its like he never had any fear to tame. That is strange to me.

Will Speckles become another house chicken? I dont know, he is definitely hard to resist. He has a certain charm about him that is different from the rest.

Either way, until he is well, he is in for a lot of love and attention.

Ha! You thought I couldnt do it! But I did! Okay, maybe I wasnt exactly on the roof, but if you open Shelbys bathroom window you could climb right out onto the roof.

These pictures suck...as I cant get past the screen, but you can kinda see...I hope.

I was asked do I have a chicken coop. Well, yes and no. I have a chicken house, inside a chain link fenced area and two laying shelter thingie houses. The fence is always open. Then I have an extra pen to catch the overflow of chickens that dont fit in the original house I built. You can see several pens..covered with gray heavy duty tarp. We get a lot of wind out here so they need lots of shelter to get in out of the wind.

Ian is currently building me another chicken house. He has the frame done, but the weather hasnt been condusive to working on it...but it will come in handy if I get more layers.

I have other pens, breeding pens...on the other side of the house too.

I cannot believe I just went out and took pictures of poo....I must be nuts! LOL! Here are three fine specimens of chicken poo. I asked if it was to be house chicken poo or outdoor chicken poo and she said outdoor poo...so outdoor it is!

Okay, Becky asks, what drives me crazy..well first of all...its a short drive..he he..a really short drive, cause these two cars dont MOVE.

In all our years together, it seems that we are always plagued with what I call...

BROKEN CAR SYNDROME

Yes, we are destined to forever have at least one broken car that sits, waiting for that one day that it might get the part it needs (usually a MAJOR part) to run freely on the roads again. But alas, there is no time, the man of the house must work, the lady of the house ain't fixin' it, so there it sits. Not one, but TWO identical cars. Identical in every way, both a 35th Anniversary edition Thunderbird. One is an automatic, the other a stick shift.

I say it drives me crazy, but I have accepted my fate and decided that well, in the scheme of things...it just doesn't really matter. This did used to drive me nuts.

We had a 240Z under the carport for years at the old house. It was his teenage car. Then we had the EXP in the drive for a long time, then there was a white Thunderbird. Then we actually went for quite a while before having it happen again. Now I just don't care. Why let it bother me? I don't even see them sitting there anymore. LOL

Okay, here is your chance to see the good, the bad, and the downright ugly!

What Do You Want To See?

This may be something inside the house, something outside, something I love, something I hate. Use your imagination and let me know what you want to see. It might be where we go to dump our trash! Or maybe its the Walmart we go to or my post office. It could be inside my pantry, or fridge. It could be my dirtiest shoes, or my favorite sitting spot in the house. You just tell me, and I will take a picture and post it here. Hopefully this will fill some empty space here during the cold winter days.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

This morning...I tried again to catch Rusty in the act. He earned his name immediately by making the squeaking little crow. Anybody got any WD40? He needs oiling! LOL

For some reason the camera video did not pick up the crow like I hear it, but I will work on that, and the lighting too. I was just glad I caught him doing it. So, next time it will be better. He crows twice in this one. What a big man he is. ;)

Good morning, up above is a site I have had in my favorites for a very long time, and for some reason up until now havent thought to post it. Matter of fact, it kind of slipped my mind that I could now see it in full motion live now that I have DSL. So I was watching goats and chickens for a little bit with my coffee this morning. :)

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Yesterday managed to be a discombobulated day. Everything was just a little off track.

The farrier stopped by unannounced, and I didnt hear him at the door, but he left his card. I had to call him back and we made a sort of appointment for Derbys scheduled hoof trim for tomorrow or the first of next week. If I can remember, I will have to take a video of him doing one of his feet, that might be cool to post.

Then I opened my (mail order) prescriptions, and two were missing! I called right away, but they didnt have a record of the other two! I sent TWO slips of paper...two prescriptions on each. Blah blah, will turn over to supervisor, blah blah, will call back. An hour and a half passed, and me being quite anxious I called them back. Will get on it now, blah blah, will call you right back. This time they did.

The papers were stuck together???? Good grief. So now my other two prescriptions are on the way. I need them NOW.

Then as I am leaving to go to the feed store...I pull to the end of the driveway and see out mailbox...the post it is attached to...leaning up against the side of the post in the ground. Great, someone had hit the mailbox again.

We live on a curve, a slight bend in the road, just enough that if people take it too fast, they clip our mailbox and tear it off. Last year we had to go find it out in the corn.

This morning at 7:30 a.m. (((GOOD GRIEF))) I got a knock on the door. Turns out the man standing there wanted to pay for damages that his wife did when she hit themailbox.

Ian saw two other mailboxes torn off on the road up the street, and thought someone was just vandalizing...but I guess it was a coincidence.

Nice of him to come by and offer, but I bet Ian will just fix it back up there on the post like last time. I took his name and number and Ian can talk to him.

We figure why replace it over and over...because even before we moved here...it happened to the previous owners over and over. Once it has lived out its life we will replace it. Right now it is probably salvagable.

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Went to the feed store as planned, got everything I needed, and well...some extra stuff. ;) It is Christmas clearance time at TSC. I will post a picture of the two things I got later. Good deals though, last ones on the shelf, I had been looking at them since they were there for Christmas. So I treated myself.

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Getting back home Ian was not home yet, because he was out being a great daddy. Shelby had wanted a particular music CD. I had called around everywhere and no one had it. Turns out Ian was out looking for it on his way home...and he found it. He got lots of hugs and thankyous for the surprise she had when he got home.

We took off for the park, went and did our walking...we are doing 50 minutes now...doing pretty good. I am so proud of all of us for keeping this new exercise time going. It makes it easier when you have everyone going. Its a lot more fun.

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Nothing much going on out in the yard...two silkies are still on eggs...golden phoenix sitting on her eggs. Going to go ahead and let them hatch you know.

Its cold, its wet...but it is supposed to warm up for the weekend...upper fifties to lower sixties. That should help to make everyone happier, including myself. :)

I always like to throw in a picture...so todays picture is of Everett.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Another thing I never knew existed. Feed stores. Now when you think of feed stores you might think of chicken, horse, cow, pig food. They do have cat and dog food too, and at pretty good prices sometimes on certain things.

I have changed feed stores three times now. When we first moved here I went to Haneys over in Rockmart. Went there for a long time, friendly enough, helpful enough. They went up four dollars all at once on the Mini Pig food. OUCH. With gas prices going up, the chicken feed was crawling upwards too. So I ventured out and found a new feed store. It is about fifteen minutes from here in Rome. They are really especially nice folks. I could usually get most of what I needed there. On a few occasions I had to make a side trip to Tractor Supply for three way scratch (a blend of cracked corn, millet and wheat usually) because they would be out. Then they too went up on their scratch, and the feed.

So my search was on again. I think I have finally found the perfect place to go for all our livestock needs.

Tractor Supply Company is a wonderful place.

If you have never been to one, go. They dont just have animal feed, they have stuff for the men to ogle over..tools, garden, all kinds of stuff. They have toys for girls and boys, they have stuff for the ladies. Boots, hats, nice country wear clothing.

The manager of the one I go to in Rome, well we have something in common. We love our Dodge trucks. He has a big ole deisel and I have the viper truck. He is always so nice when I come in. I dont know if its the truck, or all the dadgum feed I buy. I have to make a grocery list just to go to the feed store sometimes! LOL

You learn things when you move out to the country. Things you never even considered or thought about as a city dweller. Take hay for instance.

There is fescue, bermuda, alfalfa, orchard/fescue mix, wheat straw, peanut hay, lordy the list goes on and on. Something called Tiff, I dont even know what that is.

Having livestock in winter makes hay a necessity.

The bermuda hay is getting scarce, but I found some yesterday in Cartersville at Ladds. Wow that place is loaded with 'stuff'. It was an old establishment though, and so things were really packed in on shelf after shelf, from nuts and bolts, to toy tractors, to feed and water bins, horse vitamins, poop scoopers, hammers and rubber shoes...you name it they had it. That was just inside. Outside they had any kind of fence building materials, huge watering troths, and yes, they even had chickens, guineas, and turkeys for sale! I resisted, I kind of wanted the red frizzle bantam cochin roo...he was a cutey pie. Cause thats what I need is another house chicken! ;)

So anyway, back to hay. Alfalfa hay is rich, and horses love it, but Derby cant have it, cause he is still a bit overweight, not like he was, but he has to stay on a leaner hay. So I use a lot of bermuda.

Then there is wheat straw. This is a must for ground cover in winter. With all the rain there comes mud. Mud equals hazardous walking, chances of me falling and busting my rear goes way up. The pigs have to have wheat straw for bedding...and they have to have it for their penned area. It is nothing but mud now. In the summer it is dry, no problems. So I spread a good two bales of wheat straw in their pen. They grab up mouthfuls of it and drag it into their house to make the perfect pig bed. Pigs are great housekeepers. Their house is always clean and neat. You thought pigs were nasty? Nooo...they prefer to be clean! They have a corner they go pee and poop in, they get as far away from their living quarters as they can to do their business. Even when it is raining and cold, as much as they hate it, they will go as far out as they can stand it to poop and pee.

Wheat straw is good for layering the bottom of pens and chicken houses too. It is good for bedding Derbys quarters. He thinks it makes a good snack too. I really wish he wouldnt eat it though.

Wheat straw is needed for the laying nests for the hens too. I have to spread it out around the entrance to the fence, in the chicken house area...it can get pretty messy with rain and mud.

As winter goes on, it gets harder and harder to find hay, so yesterday I loaded up as much as the truck would carry. Four bales of bermuda from Ladds, dropped that off, then to Walmart for four bales of wheat straw.

With all the rain we are having...I am going to need that wheat straw.

So that is something I never even thought about buying or needing when I was a city dweller.

Hay...it is indeed a necessity!

Thought I would add one hay experience since Browney (Debbie) mentioned the big round bales. It made me think about the big round bale I got from a neighbor that sells them. It was a fescue orchard mix. Derby didnt like it at all, but I managed to use a lot of it for bedding, so it didnt go to waste, except for one thing.

We had no shelter for this hay. For hay, rain equals mold. Mold equals inedible hay for the horse. Even though he didnt like it, he would occasionally nibble at it. It was in his fenced off area. I had it covered with a heavy duty tarp, but it didnt keep the moisture out like I had hoped. It is so much more economical to get the round bales when you can, but my first and only time I got a bale, it didnt work out too well. Simply because I just had nowhere to put it. It was cool having Jim deliver it though. He had the big spike on the front of his tractor to spear it and brought it right over. That was cool.

Well, here I sit this afternoon, stuck inside for the day. It is raining off and on.

I am trying to catch Rusty in the act of crowing, yes, crowing, if you can call it that. He has been 'squeaking' for over a week now. I didnt even realize what the noise was at first!

I have never had a 'chick' cockeral this young try to crow! It is just unreal. He thinks he is big man too. Strutting his stuff. I took him out yesterday to cuddle him and his big man self decided it was still okay to be a chick and took his little head and snuggled and cuddled up against me.

Chickens do cuddle. Don't believe me? Think I am nuts? Chicks will cuddle their mamas, wedge themselves under a wing...so why not? If you cuddle them through to adulthood, they carry that over with them. Phoenix does it. Who doesnt like a nice warm cuddle?

I don't have him crowing on video yet, but I will. It is just so pitiful! But funny at the same time. For now, here is a short video of the three of them doing chick things. I also included a picture for dial up folks. I know how that is. It wasnt that long ago I was not able to view so many wonderful videos posted by other journalers.

Its been a few days hasnt it. I tend to get wrapped up in the weekends when Ian is home. You would think with it being as cold as it is (like 15 degrees this morning) I would be stuck inside with nothing to do but laundry and the internet, but that is not the case.

Yesterday I spent the better part of the day breaking up ice out of watering pails and hauling warm water out by buckets from in the house to thaw out what ice was solid and wouldn't break and fall out to be replaced with water, from in the house, because the hosepipe and the faucet outside were...yes...frozen, all day.

Lets see, all in all, there are 11 individual waterers for the chickens in pens. Then there are two pails in the pigs pen, three pails out in the yard for the chickens, four water bottles of the rabbits, and Derbys huge water pail. I filled buckets, Shelby hauled them out to his water tub.

Everyone needed food in the pens, so after all the water had been replaced it was feeding time.

There was a tremendous slab of ice on the Sultans pen. I had a bit of fun sliding that off and watching it break into pieces off the backside. Shelby went over to pick up a piece and was amazed at how thick it was.

After covering everyone back up I was about frozen myself. I quickly collected eggs and went inside to the blessed warmth of the house. As I thawed out I wished for some warmer weather. I looked over at Ian and said,

"I am not rushing our lives away, because I know we dont plan to move to Florida until we are 60, but I sure could use some Florida warmth right now!"

It is in the teens at night, and has stayed in the 30s during the day, even with the sun. The chickens are grumpy and arguments easily break out between normally easy going girls. Yes, I said the girls, not the guys are fussing at each other.

Saving...be right back...

I have to stop and save, I am still wary of getting cut off...that Out Of Range signal could pop up and then I would have to lose my mind. ;)

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You think humans are the only ones that get cabin fever? I am here to tell you I witnessed first hand that chickens get it too.

Bonnie and Clyde have always been together. Usually if one gets seperated from the other, either one will have a fit. As cold as it has been, they have had to stay inside in a pet carrier. Even a heat lamp is not enough in temperatures like it has been. I let them out for short periods to stretch their wings and legs so they arent in the carrier all the time. The last couple of days soon as I let them out Bonnie starts in on Clyde, and Clyde tries to defend himself. I dont think he could whoop his own butt, much less Bonnies. They are both so tiny, but Bonnie, as small as she is, has a weight advantage over poor Clyde. Yesterday she knocked him into a little basket on the floor and he got stuck. His feet werent touching the bottom of the basket, but his wings were caught on stuff in the basket, so he was peddling in mid air. I helped him out. Clyde came running to me and settled down on my chest to nap, up comes Bonnie, sitting down beside me I pulled her up close and cuddled her. They both seemed content after their little spat and settled down. This has happened for several days in a row...poor Clyde, he just wants to get along.

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The weather guessers predicted we were going to get snow, and a good amount of it on Saturday. It did finally get here, and accumulated quickly for the short period of time it fell...but it just wasnt cold enough and was melted by sundown. There was talk of Ian coming home early from work, but it never got bad so he stayed til time to leave. The roads were not bad at all.

Winter is good for one thing, watching movies. I love having Netflix. Dont have to go anywhere, they just appear in the mail. Over the weekend we watched Wind Chill...that was different. It wasnt a bad movie, it wasnt the best I had ever seen, but it was good for watching once. We also watched The Invisible...now THAT was pretty good!

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The new chickens are finally starting to relax some. They are not fully integrated into the group, but, no one is fighting anymore, so that is good.

Three sleep with Bubba on the fence. The white guinea, Vella, she sleeps on the pool deck railing right above Bubba and the girls. The other buff, well, I think she is actually sleeping in the chicken house, so she has actually entigrated.

Now listen here, it is 8:30 am...and Phoenix is finally getting up out of his bed off the back of the couch...can you believe it? What a useless alarm clock he is! ;) I cant blame him, hey, it is cold outside...staying under the covers sounds like an excellent idea!

Saving...be right back...

I wanted to add some pictures of the snow we had on Saturday. This was about the extent of it, after I took these the rest of the day it was melting away.

Friday, January 18, 2008

I made an entry...and got cut off by AOL..on DSL! I thought I was past all that.

I started to make another...and found out what I was talking about...was not linkable. DUH

So I am just going to keep this short and sweet today. ;)

How about a few pictures...thats always nice. Maybe I can come back later and talk about things without it all getting gummed up in the works.

This is a recent picture of Tiny. He is a sweet guy. He always stand behind the pool deck by the little tree waiting patiently at feeding time for me to come over with my bucket and pour food for him and a few others that hang out over there on that side. He follows right next to me all the way to the dish. He has always been very calm and sweet. Never wants to pick a fight, always the good guy. :)

The above seems to be the theme for today and tomorrow. Plenty of winter weather to go around, anyone lacking? You can have all you want of mine. ;) Really, I don't mind. Take it all if you are so inclined.

This would be a good time to spread our wings...

and fly away south for the winter. Or...we could just huddle together and try to keep warm til it all passes...

Now is certainly no time to be caught out in the wind and exposed...

So everyone stay warm...think of some past memory that reminds you of sun and fun...

and maybe it will help to get through winter. So lets conjure up good warm memories and soon we will be out getting our gardens ready...

mowing that fresh green grass...can you smell it? Nothing like the smell of fresh cut grass...

It wont be too much longer. January is half over. So lets remember...that warm sunny days are ahead. It will come...it always does. We just have to be patient, and it will come.

I hope everyone has a good day today...I am going to be going out early to feed and water as we are having some nasty weather to come in and so...time to put on the muck boots and some gloves and a coat and get to it. :)

Thankyou for your kind comments on the passing of our Kitten, it is very much appreciated.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

This is an old picture of Kitten. She was a lot younger then...werent we all. She was rocking on 18 years old this year so she lived a very long time considering most cats dont live past two years of age these days..whether it be getting out and getting hit or getting into fights. Cats have so many diseases and infections that can kill them. Kittens name at first was Sabrina. We found her on the side of the road in Riverdale. She would have most certainly been hit if I had not picked her up as she was at a very busy intersection.

When we first got her, she did something strange. She would turn in circles, it was like some kind of inner ear or neurological disorder. She didnt do it all the time, and it went away soon after we got her.

She was always an indoor cat. We tried putting her on a harness and letting her walk around in the back yard, but she never took to the outdoors which is probably just as well.

She was a friendly social cat, always loved attention, never wanted you to stop petting when you started.

This past Summer she suddenly went blind. It was there one day, gone the next. It was very scary for her. We had to confine her to the bathroom with all her ammenities in place where she could find them easily. She has a nice warm bed, litter box, waterer, and always had access to her food. It took a while but she adapted and was not so scared.

Around the middle of December she had an episode, she began pacing and circling. Not all the time at first, but after several days it became constant, she would not stop until she was exhausted and just couldnt walk.

Something was neurologically going wrong. Her eyes were slightly jerking back and forth in the sockets. I put her in a basket with blankets and sat with her in the living room. I thought this was the end. She was panting and meowing. She would tense and then slowly relax. She couldnt control it, but she urinated on the floor in the bathroom as she couldnt get up, she couldnt walk anymore. As I sat there petting her, talking to her I thought she would be passing soon.

But this was not what happened.

With me helping her to drink and eat and then placing her in a basket, confining her to rest..and boy did she rest, moreso than a cat usually does...she slowly recovered. Believe it or not, she was fine, would eat, poop, pee, walk, meow, everything, fine, she was still blind of course, but she had adapted to that before.

A few days ago, it started again. The pacing, sometimes, but not all the time. Then it got worse. She couldnt stop, she just walked and walked, walked in her food, in her water, pushing things out of the way, going around them once pushed out of the way. I confined her again after helping her eat and drink last night.

About ten last night I went in to check on her and put her in the litter box if she needed to go and let her eat and drink. (I wouldhave to hold her in place while she ate and drank).

She had pushed her way out of the covered basket and I found her on the floor...passed away.

So she lost her battle with whatever was going wrong last night

There is a sense of relief. Once I saw it coming back again I knew it would just keep coming back to torture her, so I am glad she passed. She was old and it was time. We will miss her, but I am glad she is out of her misery. She lived a good long life.

Here is a picture of Phoenix and her, just before she went blind.

She would tolerate him. She never would hurt him. She would let him drink and eat from her bowls.

She was the last cat. We have had many over the years...but she was the last.